On Wednesday, however, a representative from Colorado responded with a tongue-in-cheek letter to those same authorities.

Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) wrote:

The exchange of dollar bills, including high denomination bills, is currently unregulated and has allowed users to participate in illicit activity, while also being highly subject to forgery, theft, and loss. For the reasons outlined below, I urge regulators to take immediate and appropriate action to limit the use of dollar bills.

By way of background, a physical dollar bill is a printed version of a dollar note issued by the Federal Reserve and backed by the ephemeral “full faith and credit” of the United States. Dollar bills have gained notoriety in relation to illegal transactions; suitcases full of dollars used for illegal transactions were recently featured in popular movies such as American Hustle and Dallas Buyers Club, as well as the gangster classic, Scarface, among others. Dollar bills are present in nearly all major drug busts in the United States and many abroad. According to the US Department of Justice study, “Crime in the United States,” more than $1 billion in cash was stolen in 2012, of which less than 3% was recovered. The United States’ Dollar was present by the truck load in Saddam Hussein’s compound, by the carload when Noriega was arrested for drug trafficking, and by the suitcase full in the Watergate case.

Unlike digital currencies, which are carbon neutral allowing us to breathe cleaner air, each dollar bill is manufactured from virgin materials like cotton and linen, which go through extensive treatment and processing. Last year, the Federal Reserve had to destroy $3 billion worth of $100 bills after a “printing error.” Certainly this cannot be the greenest currency.

. . .

The clear use of dollar bills for transacting in illegal goods, anonymous transactions, tax fraud, and services or speculative gambling make me wary of their use. Before the United States gets too far behind the curve on this important topic, I urge the regulators to work together, act quickly, and prohibit this dangerous currency from harming hard-working Americans.

Sen. Manchin’s office did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.

"Congressman Polis wrote this letter to help draw attention to the fact that bitcoins and other digital currencies are not any more susceptible to the problems that Senator Manchin points out than dollars are, and in fact the vast majority of criminal activities are conducted in dollars," Scott Overland, a spokesperson for Rep. Polis, told Ars. "He hopes this satirical letter can help move the serious debate on digital currency forward so we can come up with ways to maximize the potential positive impacts that digital currency can have on the world economy, not ban them in their infancy."